User reviews

A group of people, somehow associated with a football team, go to an island for a getaway. Well, they picked the wrong time for vacation because someone on the island has developed a new kind of food that causes the animals to grow to gigantic sizes. Great if you're raising cattle, not so great when the rats find it.

Inspired by H. G. Wells, directed by B-movie legend Bert Gordon, and starring a young pre-Dante Belinda Balaski, this film is pretty much exactly what you might expect it is. There have been plenty of large animal horror or sci-fi films, both before and after this one. Is this one of the better ones? Who is to say?

The film is good for what it is: people fighting large rats. Sure, it is silly and kind of cheesy, but is that not what you expect from sci-fi films of the time period, especially the giant animal variety? I cannot say this movie had anything special about it, but it sure was not terrible, either.

For what it is worth, Gordon calls this film the one he had the most fun making, due to the cast and crew being on a Canadian island far from the studio. He also had the pleasure of writing the script on the fly when an unexpected snowstorm prevented the original plan!

Paul Corupe says this film has "the most fearsome creatures of any Gordon film", but that seems highly contentious.

Disappointed to see some recent reviews that give this score a low rating. This movie is from the 70s - of course it's cheesy and the special effects are low budget when you compare it to movies made today. Watched this film when I was a kid and loved it - very scary for its time. And the end scene - what if! Definitely haunted me.

A great title (borrowed from the greatest science-fiction writer of all time) and downhill from there, but this fun flic with a bad rep, for good reason in a couple of spots, taken in its entirety offers more entertainment value, pound for pound, than most of the other 'eco-terror' flics of the '70s; that's not saying much, but there were plenty of 'em: Bug(75); Night of the Lepus(72); Squirm(76); Kingdom of the Spiders(77); Prophecy(79); Empire of the Ants(77); Frogs(72); Day of the Animals(76); Ben(72); and even Phase IV(74), which was more intelligent but a bore. The only one on par with this is Piranha(78), whose director, Dante, moved to the A-list, and the original Willard(71), which had the added psycho angle. Beyond this, "Food.." contains a wicked depiction of American 'can do' gumption, embodied by Marjoe (an odd choice for leading man). He kills a rooster which was just minding its own business and defending its turf, and never apologizes to the owner (Ida Lupino). Later, he causes the deaths of his buddy (Cypher) and the obvious villain (Meeker-slumming,but the 'go to' guy those days for bad guy roles) by refusing to listen to their logical arguments for getting out of the mess they're in. No, it's his way only, 'cause he's the toughest around these here parts, and if a few people get eaten due to his manly choices, well, that's the American way. In a very strange way, it called to mind the relentless expansion & colonization represented by the American spirit; OK, that's a stretch, but, in another genre, his role would be played by someone like John Wayne, who needs to make the tough decisions. However, if you look more closely at Marjoe's character, he seems to have some crazy death wish. At one point, when they already know the island is infested with giant killers, he decides to go look around in his jeep, which offers no protection at all; his friend, echoing the thoughts of the audience, asks what the hell for? Marjoe doesn't really have an answer; he even says "I don't know." Wild. I first saw this as a teen when it came out, in a downtown theater in San Francisco and sure, most of the FX, especially the dam breaking and water pouring out, caused me to groan in another sort of horror, but seeing people getting eaten alive by giant rats was nothing to laugh off back then. This looked pretty grisly. I recently acquired a decent DVD version and the photography was quite good. Oh, and a bit of a twist ending, to boot! The much later sequel, having little to do with this picture, really was a waste of time.

On an island, some crazy old lady and her husband found some white goo seeping out of the earth. So, they did what anyone would do--they mixed it with animal feed and gave it to their farm animals. The animals then grew to enormous proportions and soon had a craving for human flesh. Some particularly dim people get themselves stuck on the island and must fight giant animal models (being thrust at them by people from the props department) to survive. All the while, a REALLY dumb rich guy is imagining the riches he'll make by harvesting this goo! I was not at all surprised to see Marjoe Gortner starring in a crap movie like this. What surprised me was seeing some once decent actors whoring themselves out in this film. To a small extent I was surprised to see Ralph Meeker but even more surprising was the famous 1930s-40 actress/director Ida Lupino. Was she bankrupt? Was she being blackmailed?! All I know is that the film is every bit as bad as the worst giant animal films of the 50s and 60s and 70s and these two never should have taken these parts.

Dumb acting, VERY dumb writing, horrible props and the like sink this production. One of the finer moments in the film was when giant bees attack as folks are INSIDE the cabin--so naturally one of them goes outside with a shovel to fight them! Later, when a Winnebago has a GIANT rat on the roof, the husband tells his wife (who is safely inside) to come outside to see the rat that is the size of a cow! Duh!!! By the way, this film would make a wonderful double-feature with "Night of the Lepus"--a 70s film about giant killer bunnies that is nearly the equal to "Food of the Gods" in the stupidity department.

A rare food taken by an old woman (penultimate film for Ida Lupino) provokes the excessive increasing on animals and bugs . Then killer beasts , gigantic flies , huge chicken , wasps , worms and enormous rats strike tourists on a secluded island . Football team players (Marjoe Gotner , John Cypher) enjoying vacations have to fight the giant monsters that are attacking people (Ralph Meeker , Belinda Balaski as an unperiled pregnant woman and Pamela Franklin's last film although she would continue to work on TV in guest).

This is an entertaining movie from expert Bert I. Gordon and freely based on H.G. Welles novel , being AIP's most successful film of the year . Although it suffers from average special effects and regular performances . The flies reproduction are quite badly made but the rats are better staged by means of true bugs increased by optics effects . Over-sized reproduction of massive worms , bulky chicken were utilized to incarnate the enormous creature effects and were also used various diverse mechanized rats . As six different mechanized rat heads and four human-motivated rat costumes were also employed . The miniature design and special props were made by Von Buelow , titles and optical effects by Universal title ; plus , the visual effects by coordinator J. Richardson and , of course , Bert I. Gordon who usually makes his own FX , he's a real craftsman . The movie gives special thanks to football team of Frazer University and the children of Sir John Franklin Community of Vancouver ,British Columbia , where it was filmed.

The film was produced in little budget by Samuel Z. Arkoff who created along with James H Nicholson the American International Pictures in which during the 60s and 70s produced several monster movies and the prestigious Roger Corman-Edgar Allan Poe series . The motion picture was professionally directed by Bert I Gordon. Bert is a B series producer/director , known as Mr B.I.G. He's a monster movies expert in which animals and men suffer voluminous shapes change caused by food or radioactivity. As occurs in ¨The cyclops¨ when the protagonist becomes a giant human monster,as well as a soldier converts in ¨War of the colossal beast¨, the immense insects of ¨Begining of the end¨, a monstrous spider in ¨The spider¨, giant ants in ¨Empire of the ants¨. Other his works in fantasy-terror are : ¨Picture mommy dead¨ and ¨ Necromancy¨, among them. It's followed by a lesser sequel titled ¨Food of gods , part 2 (1989)¨ directed by Damian Lee where the huge rats strike again and maim beautiful women.

In 1976 my parents took us kids to see this movie not realizing what we were about to see. I was only six years old and a particular scene is seared into my memory. There was a woman reaching into a cupboard and when she withdrew her hand she had a large cockroach on her arm. Next thing I know my mom puts her hand over my eyes and tells my dad to drive. Forty years later it's still with me.

Just recently I was flipping through the channels and low and behold what do I see listed? You guessed it, FOOD OF THE GODS! I had to see what I missed. It's funny how time and age can change your perception. At six I was terrified of big bugs. At forty-six I found the whole thing laughable. I suppose that in 1976 the special effects were decent enough, in this day and age watching a herd of gigantic rats was hilarious. My teenage son and husband couldn't believe that this movie scared me.

So if you're looking for a good fright, you should give this movie a pass. However, if all you're looking for is a good time and not wanting to take anything seriously this is the movie for you.

Another of Bert I. Gordon's adaptations of the works of H. G. Wells, the others being the Village of the Giants (1965) and Empire of the Ants (1977), results in yet another amusing tale of giant critters reeking havoc!

Football star vacations on an island, where a mysterious substance on a farm is causing the local animals to grow to giant, killer sizes! Whats more fun than giant poultry?

Entertaining, some what cheesy, B sci-fi thriller is great fun for fans of the drive-in era. It's a wild and bizarre tale, as we have giant rats, chickens, and insects threatening human life! Although the film does show its budget, with a wide display of hokey B movie FX, it's all pretty fun schlock. The cast does a decent job, the best being handsome hero Marjoe Gortner.

The film never gets quite as silly as Gordon's later Empire of the Ants, but it does have its share of fun for fans of the B movie genre.

** 1/2 out of ****

Directed by Bert I. Gordon, king of the low-budget big monster movie, The Food of the Gods is a clunky slice of B-movie hokum brought to life using exactly the same kind of low-rent special effects techniques the director used on his debut, King Dinosaur, over two decades earlier (and on numerous films thereafter). Rear projection, scale models, over-sized creature props and soft-edged mattes are the order of the day, none of which are very effective.

Amongst those facing off against the unconvincing creatures—which include whoppin' big wasps, gigantic grubs, chuffin' great chickens, and ruddy big rats—are football star Morgan (Marjoe Gortner), his pal Brian (Jon Cypher), unscrupulous businessman Bensington (Ralph Meeker), his sassy assistant Lorna (Pamela Franklin), loopy farmer's wife Mrs.Skinner (Ida Lupino), and young couple Thomas (Tom Stovall) and Rita (Belinda Balaski).

With its shoddy effects, laughable script, and diabolical performances (poor Ida Lupino—to wind down such an illustrious career by being gnawed to death!), The Food Of The Gods is an undeniably awful movie, but it still manages to be marginally more entertaining than Gordon's final giant monster movie, the utterly awful Empire Of The Ants, simply thanks to its greater variety of immense animalia (after all, you've seen one enormous ant, you've seen them all!).

I first saw this movie at the local drive-in theater when I was about 13yrs old. It scared the you-know-what out of me back then. I just rented the DVD and sitting there on my sofa, in my mid 40s I enjoyed it all over again! Sure, it's silly....very "B-rated" type film....but if you just accept that going into it, you won't be disappointed. In this day of Computer Generated garbage, it's refreshing to see REAL special effects. The rats are still scary some 30 years later!

Rent it, enjoy it for what it is: a campy, silly scary movie. I just love it! It saddens me to see that it's made it's way onto several "worst movie" lists. Relax people, enjoy it!

I've gotta go....I think I hear rats coming.....

A last-gasp attempt at the 1950s 'giant monster' B-movie, directed by schlock purveyor Burt I. Gordon (aka 'Mr Big') who utilises some of his famed back screen-projected beasts onto the screen for the last time. FOOD OF THE GODS is apparently partly based on a tale by H. G. Wells, but turns out to a typical entry into the genre.

The storyline is simplicity in itself: creatures on a remote island have grown to giant size, and a group of diverse characters must battle to save themselves. In the lead is former child evangelist Marjoe Gortner, one of the oddest looking leads to populate '70s cinema; in support is Ida Lupino in her last screen appearance. Still, one of the performances really register as this is a film all about the giant creatures.

And the effects are pretty decent, at least in places. Things start off badly with some dodgy giant wasps and chickens, but once the rats come into it things really pick up, with some elaborately-staged set-pieces that convince in places. After that point it's an action-packed ride to the climax, with added gore and bloodshed for modern-day '70s audience. Although I had concerns about animal welfare - some of the rats look like they get genuinely injured/drowned - FOOD OF THE GODS turns out to be a surprisingly entertaining little monster flick for fans of the genre and a film which doesn't deserve it's poor reputation.

I remember this movie as a kid and just watched it again last night for the first time in 20+ years. Yeah the acting is pretty weak and a lot of the effects are laughable, but it really is pretty entertaining. Eerie music and a bunch of filthy looking rats add to that whole creepy '70's vibe.The lead character is kind of a cheesy Joe Namath wannabe. He must be quite the stud if he has the lead chick wanting to bone him in the midst of a vicious rat attack! The man vs. chicken scence is what I remember most from chidhood and it is hilarious. The wasps are the only truly poor effect as they are very obviously superimposed. But the cheese factor is a lot of the charm here, as with a lot of the movies of this era. If you like this flick I also would recommend "Frogs", another "nature takes it's revenge" movie that was a popular theme in the '70's. Worth a look....

Wasps, worms, chickens, and rats feed off of an icky, gooey substance that causes them to grow to gigantic proportions, then terrorize the occupants of a remote mountain cabin. This trashy adaptation of the classic H.G. Wells story isn't just any ordinary bad movie. It's a movie that starts off so bad that you are compelled to actually keep watching it to see how much worse it can possibly get, and you have one heck of a good time in the process. Surprisingly, the film does have some fine points. The special effects are really quite acceptable, considering the era and the film's limited budget. And, amazingly, some of the performers manage to retain their dignity. Pamela Franklin as a sassy lady scientist and Ida Lupino as a bible-spouting farmer's wife come off best. This movie was a remake of the 1965 release VILLAGE OF THE GIANTS, also filmed by Bert I. Gordon.

As a child I do remember reading HG Wells novel THE FOOD OF THE GOODS . I can't remember much about it apart from a few giant chickens running amok and heavy political satire. Round about the same time a film version was trailed on television but there was no way I could see it because the local Rothesay cinema had just closed and the film was an X certificate which meant I was far too young to be allowed in to a cinema showing. When the video era came in to being circa the early 80s didn't recall it being available on home video and unlike other adaptations of Wells work it seems forgotten almost as it never existed in the first place.

One good thing about living in 2017 is it's very easy tracking movies down so gave this movie a go Well to be fair to the producers they have got a couple of things right. One is human arrogance digging itself a grave which is often motivated by a greedy elite. Of course the downside is that these people are painted in very broad strokes and are far from three dimensional people you'd meet in the real world. There's also gaps in internal logic in that the mutated giant animals going on a rampage are confined to three types of animals namely rats , wasps and chickens . What about other wild mammals , birdlife or arachnids ?

To be fair there is some very lowbrow enjoyment watching a film where the hero is almost pecked to death by a giant chicken then complaining "These chickens tried to kill me" I'd be very upset too if it happened to me. And if that's not bad enough he ends up stuck in a shack with giant hungry rats outside. In short THE FOOD OF THE GODS almost satisfies a hunger for brainless fun. Almost

Marjoe Gortner and associates battle giant rats in this movie directed by Bert I. Gordon for AIP.

It's not that bad for what it tries to be, even if it's not to my taste. Gortner has, apparently, learned how to act beneath his curly, perfect wig, but he only seems to come alive when he is sermonizing. Your idea of good cinema may involve Ida Lupino being gnawed to death by a rat larger than she is, but it's not mine; hence my poor opinion. On the other hand, the giant puppets are very good. That's probably due to an uncredited Rick Baker.

The main reason for such a low mark (not only on my scale) is lack of everything on every level. The actors are doing their jobs straight and bad. The plot goes on for ever and ever, presenting nothing interesting (to witness big rats for an hour or so is a dubious piece of entertainment). Special effects are getting boring as soon as you witness the first big creature. And so on.

Maybe my only mistake was to watch it in colour. Possibly, if you turn it into a black-and-white feature, it will gain a more realistic atmosphere. But now, after this awful experience, it's highly doubtful that re-watching this trash will ever take place in my life.

If you haven't watched it yet, please watch it in b&w and type a review.

A 2 out of 10 (plus one mark to all the ladies in the movie, who are very beautiful - otherwise it would have been 1/10). Thanks for attention.

There are two types of bad films: bad films that are fun and somehow end up being good, and bad films that are no fun and only manage to be crap. Given the plot line, this bad film really should have belonged to the former group; but somehow it doesn't manage it and ends up being a part of the latter. Quite how a film about ravenous, over-sized animals could be so boring escapes me, but somehow director Bert I. Gordon has managed to make it so. The film is based on a story by the great H.G. Wells, and while I haven't read it, I think it's safe to say that The Food of the Gods is a lot better on paper than it is on screen! The plot focuses on a group of friends who go hunting on a Canadian island. It's not long before they are attacked by a group of wasps, but they're not just any wasps - they're giant aggressive wasps! One of their number is killed by the wasps, so the friends go looking for help, when they come upon a barn inhabited by giant chickens! It's not long before they put two and two together and realise that something funny is going on - shortly before they meet the most dangerous creature on the island, the rats...

Giant animal films don't tend to be high quality, and this one does nothing to buck that trend. Most of the action is unexciting, and when you've got people battling giant animals - that really shouldn't be the case! The special effects are decent in places, the rat attack looks decent enough considering that this is a very low quality film, but some of the effects look terrible and the gore isn't any good either. The plot is fairly basic and there isn't much explanation for anything, which is a shame as the story basically just lays out it's stall (a load of white goo trickling down the side of the mountain) and lets the giant creatures take it from there; but the giants aren't enough to keep things entertaining, and the film fails for that reason. It becomes hard to care about anything shortly after the film starts, and that doesn't get any better as it moves on. Probably quite unsurprisingly, I wasn't impressed at all with The Food of the Gods, and that's a shame as this could have been quite decent if it had been handled better. I can't really recommend wasting time with this film - shiny new DVD release or not!

I should give this move a "10" simply based on the fact that I remembered watching it when it first came out at the age of 7. This was one of those movies that my mom watched after my brother and I "Went to bed". Little did she know we would often sneak out of bed and peer into the living room where we could clearly see the television. At the point that this movie first showed it's ENORMOUS SIZED animals we were glued to the screen and so enthralled that we couldn't look away. It was only in our dreams that the horrifying scene of the gigantic rats haunted us both again and again. Over the years the nightmares came less and less but the title never left my head...when I just happened to come across this movie that has been tucked away in my mind since I was a little girl I just had to tell you what kind of impact it had on a little 7 year old girls and her 5 year old baby brother. Although the movie is a far stretch from realistic by today's standards back then it was terrifying! Way to go Food of the Gods!!

For some unknown reason, this movie is one of my guilty pleasures. It is a bad movie I can't get enough of. Watching Ida Lupino screech as a giant plastic worm chews on her arm was a camp moment unlike any other. A giant chicken takes out some townsfolk, as do giant rats and giant wasps. All of this happens because the animals eat what appears to be hot marshmallow creme gurgling out of the earth. The special effects are from what appears to be the caveman era, but it is still fun to watch. Another movie that could almost work if remade with today's special effects (and a major script overhaul).